Raw Carrot Cake

The mere mention of clean eating has people rolling their eyes; screwing their faces with exasperation and asking, what do you eat?

To the uninitiated an incredibly wide selection of healthy, gluten, dairy, flour and sugar free dishes beckon which taste undeniably delicious. Half way through my 60-Day challenge was my husband’s birthday and we decided to celebrate at home with a home cooked meal.

A birthday wouldn’t be complete without birthday cake to celebrate. As my husband is allergic to cocoa anything that contains chocolate or cocoa was off the menu. After flicking through endless dessert recipes the idea of a Raw Carrot Cake started to hold appeal.

It's a powerhouse of nutrition and a guilt free birthday treat.

I’ve seen and eaten many a carrot cake but decided to take this special birthday recipe to another level by creating a raw version of carrot cake. I made the cakes the day before which resulted in a deeper tone and flavour.

To the uninitiated this gluten, dairy, flour and sugar free cake will leave you exasperated knowing that something so nutritious can taste so delectably wonderful.

Pre-Soak the macadamia nuts in water the night before. If you forget this step, you can pre-soak the nuts for a couple of hours however, I find the longer the soak, the creamier the nuts taste.

Pre-soak the macadamia nuts overnight to create a creamy nut frosting for the carrot cake.

Combine the diced carrots, almond meal, chopped medjool dates, desiccated coconut and cinnamon into a food processor and blend into a condensed and sticky pudding mixture.

Combine all the cake ingredients into a food processor and blend to make a sticky mixture.

The raw carrot cake mixture will resemble a condensed and sticky pudding.

Spread half the carrot cake mixture into individual or one large cake tin; refrigerate while making the frosting.

Spread the cake tins with a layer of carrot cake mixture.

Drain and rinse the macadamia nuts from their soaking liquid.

Combine the macadamia nuts, lemon juice, coconut oil, rice malt syrup and water into a food processor and blend until thick and smooth. Depending on the thickness of the frosting you may want to add a little extra water.

Combine the frosting ingredients and blend into a thick and smooth nut frosting.

The frosting should be thick and smooth.

Remove the carrot cake from the refrigerator and layer the cake with half the frosting.

To assemble the raw cake firstly spread the carrot cake mix into a springform cake tin followed by the nut frosting.

Repeat with another layer of carrot cake and frosting then garnish with walnut pieces.

Repeat the layering and garnish the carrot cake with walnut pieces.

Refrigerate until required (don’t forget to remove the cling wrap prior to serving). The carrot cakes will last between 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

NotesAs this is a raw cake, I find it easier using spring-form cake tins. In addition, I line the tins with cling wrap making it easier when transferring onto serving dishes.

To the uninitiated Raw Carrot Cake is a dessert treat that is undeniably delicious yet gluten, dairy, flour and sugar free.